Bass guitar + guitar head

[Aaron Smith]

So I don't have access to any bass tube heads at the moment, but I would really like to capture a more tube-y bass sound. I DO have access to several guitar tube amps though, and I have always been curious- is there any problem with plugging a bass guitar into, say, a Marshall JCM2000, which is then routed to an Ampeg 4x10? If this is safe, will it produce a desireable bass sound? Or is it not safe and something will blow up? Haha.

 

[KeithRT99]

i'm pretty sure it's ok, as long as it goes into a bass cab. Although i don't know how good it will sound. If im not mistaken i think sharlee from arch enemy uses a marshall guitar amp to run his bass into.

 

[Aaron Smith]

i think sharlee from arch enemy uses a marshall guitar amp to run his bass into.

I saw a picture once making me think the same thing, but my brother informed me that there are actually some old Marshall plexi bass heads that look an awful lot like a more modern Marshall guitar head...so I'm not sure actually.

 

[sparkyness]

A lot of guys run both a bass head + a guitar head for the high-end of their sound. I know that Doug Pinnick of Kings X used to split his signal in the studio. He filtered out the lows though. I don't think you'd kill the head. I once blew up a homemade guitar quad box playing my bass through a guitar stack...sounded ultra cool

For what it's worth, if you do track with the guitar head, I'd blend the sound with a DI signal as well. The low end will probably sound shite through the guitar head and the DI signal will round that out and give you some low-end nad rumbling.

 

[Executioner213]

I'm pretty sure you just need to rewire your cabinets for a lower impedence. The old bassist of Society one was using a Blue Voodoo full stack live with the same 4x12 cabinets any other guitar player would use, and I asked thier roadie how that works. He said the trick was just to wire the cabinets for a lower impedance so the low end isn't shredding the speakers. I guess it has little to nothing to do with the head.

 

[Torniojaws]

The head has nothing to do with it. It just amplifies whatever is input. The speakers, however, must physically tolerate the extreme strong lows of bass guitar (compared to regular guitar).

For big guys' example, Lemmy Kilmister plays through an Engl Powerball

 

[musickey]

I'm pretty sure you just need to rewire your cabinets for a lower impedence. The old bassist of Society one was using a Blue Voodoo full stack live with the same 4x12 cabinets any other guitar player would use, and I asked thier roadie how that works. He said the trick was just to wire the cabinets for a lower impedance so the low end isn't shredding the speakers. I guess it has little to nothing to do with the head.

I seen them live with Pissing Razors and his sound was rotten!!

 

[~BURNY~]

Try an Hiwatt DR103 head if you can! Amazing stuff through a 8x10 ampeg. No problem.

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

a lot of people use JCM800's as bassamps in the studio, i like the sound of them too.
one of the coolest bassounds i ever heard was a marshall MG on an an amoeg 8x10. i know those amps really suck for guitar but the bass sound was jawdropping!